Leah Mitchell isn't the same shy, poor girl anymore. Now a college student, she is enjoying her life in the city and the freedom she longed for. She works hard and knows her worth. She has it all, but her heart aches for the only person from her pas...
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Darkness coats my bedroom. I wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my PJs and bury my face in the pillow. I want to stop crying, but the tears keep falling. They have been since I came home from the party and collapsed onto my bed, pulling the covers over my head in a vain attempt to hide from the world in which Brian is back.
He's back. He's here, in my college, and I feel his presence physically. He managed to infiltrate everything—the city where I now live, the college where I study, my thoughts, and my heart.
The mattress dips on either side of me. Gentle hands touch me through the comforter.
"She alive?" a voice whispers.
"Seems to be breathing," another one replies.
I lift the comforter just a tiny bit and peek from beneath it. It's like I'm seeing double—two blonds, not one, are looking at me.
"I should've told you," Annie says, her voice subdued and concerned. "I wanted to, but Nash was here, and I didn't know what the right way to act was. I had no idea you would run into Brian at that party, Leah."
"I'm sorry too," Taryn says. "You should've told me that was why you decided to leave the frat house early."
"What would it change?" I mumble. "He'd still be here, and I'd still cry and be pathetic."
The girls lie down beside me. I'm sandwiched between my two worried friends, but I can't manage to feel warm. Chills run through me like when I stood on the sidewalk in front of Brian in my short dress and a thin jacket.
"You're not pathetic," Annie says. "He's your first love."
My only love, the annoying voice in my head reminds me. I wish it would shut up.
"I can't even imagine how I'd feel if I were you," she goes on. "If Kenzie and I broke up, and then I saw him, I would... God, I'd probably faint right there."
"Same," Taryn says. "You have memories together. I remember hearing you cry when you burned that note. Seeing him must've been so hard."
I sniffle. "It was. Why the hell is he even back? Why now? If he wanted to start over somewhere new, he should've done that for real. But no. He just goes and says he's back as if it's gonna fix everything. I'm back, Leah. Take off your clothes and jump my pierced dick."
Taryn whistles. "Did he say that? Damn, that's hot. Wait, is it really pierced?"
"Oh my God," I choke out. "No, of course, he didn't, and yes, of course, it is."
"That's a tough one then. You have two guys. One is tattooed, the other one's junk is enhanced. It doesn't suck to be you."
"Shut up," I groan.
Annie and Taryn's giggles put a stop to my tears, making me smile.
